FAQs

Learning to scuba dive with SCUBA DREAM and PADI is an incredible adventure! With PADI as your training organisation, your path to breathing underwater is accomplished in three exciting phases:

1. Knowledge Development - Learn the lingo.

During the first phase of your PADI Open Water Diver scuba certification, you develop an understanding of the basic principles of scuba diving. You learn things like how pressure affects your body, how to choose the best scuba gear and what to consider when planning dives. You briefly review what you have studied in the five knowledge sections with your instructor and take a short quiz to be sure you're getting it.

At the end of the course, you'll take a longer quiz that makes sure you have all the key concepts and ideas down. You and your SCUBA DREAM Instructor will review anything that you don't quite get until it's clear.

Select the knowledge development option you prefer:

Start right now and learn to scuba dive online with SCUBA DREAM via PADI eLearning at your own pace—anytime, anywhere (great for busy schedules)- this may incur extra costs.

Attend a scheduled scuba diving class at SCUBA DREAM (great for meeting new friends and dive buddies).

Take advantage of home study using PADI multimedia materials (manual, video, CD-Rom) which you will recieve through SCUBA DREAM.

2. Confined Water Dives - Scuba Skills Training.

This is what it's all about – diving. You develop basic scuba skills by scuba diving in a pool or body of water with pool-like conditions, we have the perfect area for this in Eight Acre Lake that is used just for Scuba Dream students. Here you'll learn everything from setting up your scuba gear to how to easily get water out of your scuba mask without surfacing. You'll also practice some emergency skills, like sharing air or replacing your scuba mask. Plus, you may play some games, make new friends and have a great time. There are five confined water dives, with each building upon the previous. Over the course of these five dives, you attain the skills you need to dive in open water.

3. Open Water Dives - Locally or on Holiday.

After your confined water dives, you and the new friends you've made continue learning during four open water dives with your SCUBA DREAM PADI Instructor at a dive site. This is where you fully experience the underwater adventure – at the beginner level, of course. You can complete the whole course with us at Eight Acre Lake which we would love! But if needed and you are in a rush to go on holiday then you may take this part of your course on holiday - ask us about referrals and we can help you to organise this.

It's possible to complete your confined and open water dives in around five to six days, by completing the classroom portion online via PADI eLearning or home study options offered by SCUBA DREAM.

The PADI Open Water Diver course is incredibly flexible and performance based, which means that SCUBA DREAM can offer a wide variety of schedules, paced according to how fast you progress.

Your instructor's interest is in your learning to scuba dive, not in how long you sit in a class. So, training is based upon demonstrating that you know what you need to know and can do what you need to do. This means that you progress at your own pace – faster or slower depending upon the time you need to become a confident scuba diver who dives regularly. You can start learning to scuba dive online right now with SCUBA DREAM and PADI eLearning.

If you think you may have a medical problem that may affect whether you are able to dive or not then please look below. if any of these statements are something that affects you, this does not necessarily mean that you are not able to dive, but you will need a physicians note to clear you for diving.

If you are unsure whether you need a physicians note or not, then please get in touch, we will answer any questions as best as we can!

Medical Questions for Discover Scuba Diving experience

Do you currently have an ear infection?

Do you have a history of ear disease, hearing loss or problems with balance?

Do you have a history of ear or sinus surgery?

Are you currently suffering from a cold, congestion, sinisitus or bronchitis?

Do you have a history of respiratory problems, severe attacks of hayfever or allergies, or lung disease?

Have you had a collapsed lung (pneumothorax) or history of chest surgery?

Do you have active asthma or history of emphysema or tuberculosis?

Are you currently taking medication that carries a warning about any impairment of your physical or mental abilities?

Do you have behavioural health, mental or psychological problems or a nervous system disorder?

Are you or could you be pregnant?

Do you have a history of a colostomy?

Do you have a history of heart disease or heart attack, heart surgery or blood vessel surgery?

Do you have a history of high blood pressure, angina, or take medication to control blood pressure?

Are you over 45 and have a family history of heart attack or stroke?

Do you have a history of bleeding or other blood disorder?

Do you have a history of diabetes?

Do you have a history of seizures, blackouts or fainting, convulsions or epilepsy or take medication to prevent them?

Do you have a history of back, arm or leg problems following an injury, fracture or surgery?

Do you have a history of fear of closed or open spaces or panic attacks?

Medical Questions for PADI courses and Specialties

Could you be pregnant or are you attempting to become pregnant?

Are you presently taking any prescription medications (with the exception of birth control or anti-malarial)

Are you over 45 years of age and can answer YES to one or more of the following?

Currently smoking a pipe, cigars or cigarettes

Have a high cholesterol level

Have a family history of heart attack or stroke

Are you currently receiving medical care for high blood pressure or Diabetes mellitus, even if controlled by diet alone.

Have you ever had or do you currently have Asthma, or wheezing with breathing, or wheezing with exercise?

Frequent or severe attacks of hayfever or allergy?

Frequent colds, sinusitis or bronchitis?

Any form of lung disease?

Pneumothorax?

Other chest disease or chest surgery?

Behavioural health, mental or physical problems?

Epilepsy, seizures, convulsions or take medication to prevent them?

Recurring complicated migrane headaches or take medications to prevent them?

Blackouts or fainting?

Frequent or severe suffering from motion sickness?

Dysentery or dehydration requiring medical intervention?

Any dive accidents or decompression sickness?

Inability to perform moderate exercise?

Head Injury with loss of consciousness in the past 5 years?

Recurrent back problems?

Back or spinal surgery?

Diabetes?

Back, arm or leg problems following surgery, injury or fracture?

High blood pressure or take medication to control blood pressure?

Heart disease?

Heart attack?

Angina, heart surgery or blood vessel surgery?

Sinus surgery?

Ear disease or surgery, hearing loss or problems with balance?

Recurrent ear problems?

Bleeding or other blood disorders?

Hernia?

Ulcers or ulcer surgery?

A colostomy or ileostomy?

Recreational drug use or treatment for, or alcoholism in the past five years?

If you have any questions then please contact us at Scuba Dream and if you need to get a physicians note we will provide you with the relevent forms and information to take to your GP.

Compared with getting started in other popular adventure sports and outdoor activities, learning to scuba dive isn't expensive.

For example, you can expect to pay about the same as you would for:

a full day of surfing lessons

a weekend of rock climbing lessons

a weekend of kayaking lessons

a weekend of fly-fishing lessons

about three hours of private golf lessons

about three hours of private water skiing lessons

one amazing night out at the pub!

Learning to scuba dive is a great value when you consider that you learn to dive under the guidance and attention of a highly trained, experienced professional - your SCUBA DREAM PADI Scuba Instructor. From the first day, scuba diving starts transforming your life with new experiences you can share with friends. And, you can do it almost anywhere there is water. Start learning online with SCUBA DREAM and get ready to take your first breath underwater!

Choosing and using your scuba gear is part of the fun of diving. SCUBA DREAM will help you find the right gear. Each piece of scuba equipment performs a different function so that collectively, it adapts you to the underwater world.

When you start learning to scuba dive, we highly recommend to have your own scuba mask and snorkel. These have a personal fit, and SCUBA DREAM will help you choose ones that have the fit and features best suited to you. All the equIpment you need to complete the course is included in the cost of your PADI Open Water Diver course at SCUBA DREAM.

As you progress in your diving it is recommended that you invest in your own scuba equipment because:

you're more comfortable using scuba gear fitted for you.

scuba divers who own their own scuba diving equipment find it more convenient to go diving.

having your own scuba diving gear is part of the fun of diving.

Easy. There is no best gear. But, there is the best gear for you. The professionals at SCUBA DREAM are trained to help you find scuba gear that best matches your preferences, fit and budget. These professionals can get you set with the right stuff, plus they provide service and support for years of enjoyable and dependable use.

You may also want to talk to other scuba divers in PADI's online scuba community to get recommendations on particular scuba equipment brands and models.

If you have an appetite for excitement and adventure, odds are you can become an avid PADI scuba diver. You'll also want to keep in mind that age will affect what you can do. The minimum age is 10 years old.

Students younger than 15 years, who successfully complete the course qualify for the PADI Junior Open Water Diver certification, which they may upgrade to PADI Open Water Diver certification upon reaching 15. You must be at least 13 years old to take scuba lessons online with PADI eLearning, due to international internet laws. If you're younger, you can still learn to dive – just have your parent or legal guardian contact SCUBA DREAM.

For safety, all students complete a brief scuba medical questionnaire that asks about medical conditions that could be a problem while diving. If none of these apply, you sign the form and you're ready to start. If any of these apply to you, as a safety precaution your dive physician must assess the condition as it relates to diving and sign a medical form that confirms that you're fit to dive. In some areas, local laws require all scuba students to consult with a physician before entering the course.

Before completing the PADI Open Water Diver course, your instructor will have you demonstrate basic waterskill comfort by having you swim 200 metres (or 300 metres in mask, fins and snorkel). There is no time limit for this, and you may use any swimming strokes you want. You will also need to float and “tread” water for 10 minutes, again using any methods that you want.

Disability is not a barrier to learning to dive. Any individual who can meet the performance requirements of the course qualifies for certification. There are many adaptive techniques that allow individuals with physical challenges to meet these requirements. Individuals with paraplegia, amputations and other challenges commonly earn the PADI Open Water Diver certification. Even individuals with significant physical challenges successfully participate in diving. Contact us for more information.

Most courses are now available on PADI eLearning, however some are still paper based. You'll need the following training materials during these courses:

The relevant PADI Course Manual and video( if applicable). You will also need your PADI Log book and Recreational Dive Planner (Table or eRDPTM).

You can dive practically anywhere there's water – from a swimming pool to the ocean and all points in between, including quarries, lakes, rivers and springs. Where you can scuba dive is determined by your experience level, site accessibility, conditions and interests.

For example, if you've just finished your PADI Open Water Diver course, you probably won't be diving under the Antarctic ice on your next dive. But, don't limit your thinking to the warm, clear water you see in travel magazines. Some of the best diving is closer than you think.

Your local dive site can be anything from a special pool built just for divers like one found in Brussels, Belgium, or more typically natural sites like Belize's Great Blue Hole, Australia's Great Barrier Reef or Japan's Yonaguni Monument. It may be a manmade reservoir or a fossil-filled river. It's not always about great visibility because what you see is more important than how far you see. We are very lucky to have some great dive sites around the North UK including St Abbs, Farne Islands and Oban.

The only truly important thing about where you dive is that you have the scuba diving training and experience appropriate for diving there, and that you have a dive buddy to go with you. SCUBA DREAM can help you organise great local diving or a dive holiday. Contact us today to get started.

No, assuming you have no irregularities in your ears and sinuses. The discomfort is the normal effect of water pressure pressing in on your ears. Fortunately, our bodies are designed to adjust for pressure changes in our ears – you just need to learn how. If you have no difficulties adjusting to air pressure during flying, you'll probably experience no problem learning to adjust to water pressure while diving.

Sun burn and seasickness are the most common, both of which are preventable with over the counter preventatives. The most common injuries caused by marine life are scrapes and stings, and most of these can be avoided by wearing gloves and an exposure suit, staying off the bottom and watching where you put your hands and feet.

Contact SCUBA DREAM for information about exposure protection needed for any of your diving.

When you're lucky, you'll get to see a shark.

Although incidents with sharks occur, they are very, very rare. Most commonly shark encounters primarily involve spear fishing or feeding sharks, both of which trigger eractic feeding behavior. Sharks main food source is fish and if they can get a free feed they will.

Most of the time, if you see a shark it's passing through and a relatively rare sight to enjoy.

With the necessary training and experience, the limit for recreational scuba diving is 40 metres. Beginning scuba divers stay shallower than about 18 metres unless you are a Junior Scuba Diver then it is 12 metres. Although these are the limits, some of the most popular diving is no deeper than 12 metres where the water's warmer and the colours are brighter. You will be told your maximum depth by your instructor on your course.